Modern basketball shoes are required to be both light weight and extremely flexible because of the range and speed of motions arising in use. An example of basketball shoe design is shown in U.S. Pat. No. DES 262,751 issued to Wolf Anderie. That shoe includes a high top upper having a cushioning portion commencing just below the ankle and extending over the lower portion of the leg at the ankle opening. Various other constructions are known in the art, ranging from an essentially unitary sheet panel covering the entire upper portion of the shoe, to diverse arrangements of textile sheet portions and leather reinforcement portions so as to firmly accommodate the foot while allowing a proper distribution of stresses within. A common need of all such designs is to provide adequate support to the foot of the wearer so as to prevent sprains which can result from excess movement of the various joints of the foot from their normal orientation. As a practical matter, this end cannot be fully achieved because of the trade-off between shoe flexibility and weight, on the one hand, and the shoe's ability to provide full support, on the other hand. Thus, athletes generally tape their feet to provide additional support when playing strenuous games.
Various support structures for shoes or boots generally are known, such as the spring structures shown in U.S. Pat. No. 450,698 issued Apr. 21, 1891, for an invention of Saunders; the stays shown in U.S. Pat. No. 325,280 issued Sept. 1, 1885, for an invention of Smadbeck, et al., and the brace structures, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,441,677 issued Jan. 9, 1923, for an invention of Golden. In addition, strap structures are known in substantially rigid athletic shoes such as ski boots and ice skates, as shown in French Pat. No. 827,130 published Apr. 25, 1938, for an invention of Selinger. Finally, it is known to provide an ankle support formed of spring material and rising vertically from the sole with a cut-out over the ankle bone for a tall shoe or boot, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 534,179 issued Feb. 12, 1895, for an invention of Sessler. While the foregoing patents show generally the use of stays, springs and straps to more firmly hold the foot in a given position, restrain excessive motion, or provide additional support, they do not appear to show any awareness of a combination of strap and spring elements to provide a lightweight supporting structure for a flexible high top shoe.